Developed by British philosopher Stephen Toulmin in The Uses of Argument (1958)

 Examples of qualifiers: ◦ sometimes ◦ often ◦ presumably ◦ unless ◦ almost ◦ rarely ◦ possibly ◦ in general ◦ one might argue ◦ many

 The claim is likely to be controversial.  It should also be debatable.  It answers the question, “So what’s your point?”  Good claims often come from personal experiences.

* Attaching a reason to a claim often spells out the major terms of the overall argument.

 Warrants are the logical and persuasive connection between a claim and the reasons and evidence supporting it.  Reasons So… Claim Since/Because … Warrant

 That dog is vicious.Don’t pet the dog. Petting vicious dogs is risky because they are likely to bite.

 Most points worth arguing have a well developed history.  The writer should do the legwork to dig up this background knowledge before making the claim.

 The Toulmin argument works well in the real world because it acknowledges limitations, using qualifying language (see slide 2). Qualifiers make the writing more precise and honest.

 Year-round schooling may be a better system for educating our youth.  Most of society benefits from collective bargaining.  One might argue that standardized testing does little to assess students’ true knowledge.

 These are potential objections to an argument.  Reacting to the opposing viewpoint’s claims is (like in the classical model and the Rogerian model) integral to solidifying the writer’s argument.  For this reason, good writers of argumentative papers spend a paragraph or more showing an appreciation for the other point of view before the rebuttal.

 This builds your sense of ethos in the paper.

 This is where the writer responds to the opposing argument. Provide evidence to support this response. Then conclude the paper.